Some people have the public’s ear. It seems that everything they say or do has to be reported widely and is then consumed hungrily by adoring fans. We could mention names, but by tomorrow or the next day, interest will have shifted to someone else. The celebrity merry-go-round seems to have a “flavor of the day.” You’d think that this would cause more people to wonder whether or not what these folks had to say was really worth listening to.

By contrast, if God speaks I don’t want to miss anything He’s got to say. His words won’t be frivolous or superficial. They won’t be a passing fancy. They will be worth listening to. Jesus even said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away” (Matt. 24:35).

The Bible plainly says that God at one time spoke to man in a variety of ways but is now speaking to us in His Son (Heb. 1:1-2). And He’s doing that through the Bible: in the Gospels [see HERE], all of the New Testament [see HERE], and even the entire Bible [see HERE].

So what about the claims, still made to this day, from people who say, “God has spoken to me,” or “The Lord has given me this message,” or the like? Do we dare to miss what they (or God?) have to say?

What has God already said about this?

The Bible affirms two very important points in this regard. First, it is all-sufficient. It says that God “has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence” (2 Peter 1:3). In other words, God has already given us everything we need.

Second, it completely equips us (2 Timothy 3:16-17). So, truthfully, claims of continued revelations from God in reality contradict the Bible. In other words, either the Bible is right, or these claims are right; but not both.

To that we can add one more statement. The Bible says its message was “once for all delivered” (Jude 3). The significance of this is that God is not in the process of continually revealing His message to man. He has already done so, once for all time.

If the Bible professes to be the final and complete revelation of God’s will to man – and it emphatically does – then claims made of God’s giving other messages today (however well-intentioned they might be) are in direct conflict with the Bible’s own statements. Whom shall we believe?

To whom should we listen?

Another thing – we hear numerous people claim God is speaking to them or giving them a message. Which of these do we believe? All of them? Some of them? None of them?

We have already discussed the test that can, and must, be applied to anyone proposing to help us to understand God’s will (see HERE). And if, as seen there, the Bible itself becomes the measure or test of every message, then they are not providing anything new – it’s already been given. If they insist they do have a new message from God, that claim runs counter to the Bible’s own statements and places them in a rather dubious position.

Yes, God really is still talking today, but He’s just not in the process of continually revealing His message. It’s already done and we already have it.

And that’s precisely where another of the Bible’s declarations comes in: “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Heb. 4:12).

The Bible is a living document. It is as relevant and pertinent today as it has ever been. Through it, God is still speaking.

That means our task is to do our best (the Bible calls it diligence) to know and understand the Bible as God intends.